SLOVAKIA'S Peter Sagan accelerated away at the finish to win a third stage of the Tour de France laced with thrills and spills today.

The Liquigas rider burst away from his rivals on the uphill climb at the end to pip Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky by one second.

Another Slovak, Peter Velits, was third for Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

Sagan also won the first stage on Sunday.

Race favourite Bradley Wiggins escaped unhurt after being involved in a mass pile-up on the final corner.

The Briton crossed the line about 30 seconds behind the winner but was credited with the same time as Boasson Hagen because the incident occurred in the last three kilometres.

Swiss Fabian Cancellara was fourth in the stage and retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.

The 197-km journey from Orchies was marred by crashes, Wiggins losing Sky team mate Kanstantsin Siutsou when the Belarussian was forced out of the race after falling off his bike around 50-km from the finish.

Another pile-up on the tight country roads of northernFrance later also led to Movistar's Jose Joaquin Rojas, second in the points classification in last year's race, withdrawing.